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Pirandello, Luigi

(Encyclopedia)Pirandello, Luigi lwēˈjē pērändĕlˈlō [key], 1867–1936, Italian author, b. Sicily. One of the great figures in 20th-century European theater, Pirandello was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Li...

Zola, Émile

(Encyclopedia)Zola, Émile āmēlˈ zôläˈ [key], 1840–1902, French novelist, b. Paris. He was a professional writer, earning his living through journalism and his novels. About 1870 he became the apologist for...

Moore, George Edward

(Encyclopedia)Moore, George Edward, 1873–1958, English philosopher, b. Upper Norwood. He was educated at Cambridge, where he was a fellow (1898–1904) and then a lecturer (1911–25) in the department of moral s...

Bruno, Giordano

(Encyclopedia)Bruno, Giordano jōrdäˈnō bro͞oˈnō [key], 1548–1600, Italian philosopher, b. Nola. The son of a professional soldier, he entered the Dominican order early in his youth and was ordained a pries...

Plato

(Encyclopedia)Plato plāˈtō [key], 427?–347 b.c., Greek philosopher. Plato's teachings have been among the most influential in the history of Western civilization. Many of the late dialogues are devoted to te...

academic freedom

(Encyclopedia)academic freedom, right of scholars to pursue research, to teach, and to publish without control or restraint from the institutions that employ them. It is a civil right that is enjoyed, at least in s...

Dewey, John

(Encyclopedia)Dewey, John, 1859–1952, American philosopher and educator, b. Burlington, Vt., grad. Univ. of Vermont, 1879, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins, 1884. He taught at the universities of Minnesota (1888–89), Michig...

Friends, Religious Society of

(Encyclopedia)Friends, Religious Society of, religious body originating in England in the middle of the 17th cent. under George Fox. The members are commonly called Quakers, originally a term of derision. The org...

Mamet, David

(Encyclopedia)Mamet, David mămĕtˈ [key], 1947–, American playwright and film director, b. Chicago. He taught drama (and produced some of his early plays) at Goddard College. His work, often dealing with the su...

Pre-Raphaelites

(Encyclopedia)Pre-Raphaelites prēˌ-răfˈēəlītsˌ [key], brotherhood of English painters and poets formed in 1848 in protest against what they saw as the low standards and decadence of British art. The princip...